Operational Data Checking

An automatic data checking system has been implemented at ECMWF to trigger warnings in case of anomalies affecting the quality or the availability of the data assimilated by the model. Selected statistical parameters (number of observations, bias correction, and mean bias-corrected background, analysis departures and probability of gross error) are checked against an expected range. An appropriate alert message (including a time series plot) is generated if statistics are outside the specified ranges. A severity level (slight, considerable, severe) is assigned to each message depending on how far statistics are from the expected values. Two kinds of ranges are used by the automatic checking: Soft and Hard limits. Soft limits are updated automatically using statistics from the last twenty days (extremes are excluded during this process). Hard limits are adjusted manually when required.

Currently, the automatic checking is limited to data passing through the minimisation process (including VarBC passive data). It's being applied twice a day to the delayed cut-off 4D-VAR cycles (00 and 12) and four times a day to the early delivery assimilation system (00,06,12 and 18).

The alarm system results are based on feedback information from the ECMWF data assimilation and consequently reflect the ECMWF data usage. Although most warnings are related to data problems, they may on occasion also be related to model issues. Alerts are provided for information on an as-is basis and may be withdrawn or changed without notice. ECMWF accepts no responsibility for actions taken on the basis of these results.

Ensemble Data Assimilation at 2022-09-18 00:00

iasi
METOP-B IASI RADIANCES CHANNEL 1658 : out of range
17 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=0.0648, expected range: 0.0779 0.0897
METOP-B IASI RADIANCES (13 channels affected) : out of range
5 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=0.3184, expected range: 0.2096 0.2619
METOP-B IASI RADIANCES CHANNEL 79 : out of range
5 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=0.2926, expected range: 0.3325 0.3722
METOP-B IASI RADIANCES CHANNEL 133 : out of range
13 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=0.2465, expected range: 0.2938 0.3404
METOP-B IASI RADIANCES CHANNEL 131 : out of range
13 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=0.3531, expected range: 0.3902 0.4214
METOP-B IASI RADIANCES CHANNEL 386 : out of range
14 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_fgdepar=0.0510, expected range: 0.1102 0.1295
METOP-C IASI RADIANCES CHANNEL 386 : out of range
4 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severe: avg_fgdepar=0.0254, expected range: 0.1012 0.1386
airs
AQUA AIRS RADIANCES CHANNEL 93 : out of range
7 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=-0.0796, expected range: -0.0672 -0.0531
AQUA AIRS RADIANCES CHANNEL 99 : out of range
7 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=0.0358, expected range: 0.0494 0.0630
AQUA AIRS RADIANCES CHANNEL 116 : out of range
7 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=0.0083, expected range: 0.0522 0.0631
AQUA AIRS RADIANCES CHANNEL 123 : out of range
7 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=-0.0935, expected range: -0.0793 -0.0627
AQUA AIRS RADIANCES CHANNEL 128 : out of range
7 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=0.0287, expected range: 0.0652 0.0844
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=-0.0311, expected range: -0.1363 -0.0912
AQUA AIRS RADIANCES CHANNEL 129 : out of range
7 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=-0.1132, expected range: -0.0794 -0.0558
AQUA AIRS RADIANCES CHANNEL 138 : out of range
7 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=-0.0092, expected range: -0.1748 -0.0992
ssmis
DMSP-17 SSMIS RADIANCES CHANNEL 3 : out of range
9 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=1.1328, expected range: 0.9818 1.0665
DMSP-18 SSMIS RADIANCES CHANNEL 7 : out of range
9 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severely_persistent: avg_biascorr=5.0347, expected range: 3.7657 4.2426
gpsro
TERRASAR-X GPSRO SETTING HEIGHT 4-6 KM : out of range
Slight: avg_norm_fgdepar=-0.1843, expected range: -0.1070 0.1136
amdar
AMDAR WIND VECTOR DIFF (M/S) PRESSURE LAYER 900-1200 (HPA) : missing
1 times in the last 10 days for at least one item
Severe: obs_number=0.0000, expected range: 0.0000 271.8744